Ngwe Saung Beach Trip Report October 2012

Beach scene at Ngwe Saung, with a local taking his trusty bullock for a stroll. Lover's Island is in the background.

Myself and a friend made a 10 day trip to check out the 2 closest beach destinations to Yangon - Ngwe Saung and Chaungtha.

Both are around 6 hours drive from Yangon, and they are the closest options for beach getaways without flying up to Ngapali (which is currently difficult to access given its location in Rakhaing State)

Ngwe Saung is definitely the nicer of the 2 beaches - located about 10 miles south-west of Chaungtha, Ngwe Saung has a nicer swimming beach and a more relaxed atmosphere.

It also contains some of the highest quality (and priced) exotic resort enclaves, which can fetch upwards of $200 a night - but lower end accommodation is available.

We stayed in the Shwe Hin Tha Ngwe Saung hotel - a collection of beach bungalows and units right on the beach, ranging in price from $20-$40 per night. Most have fans ($20-35) but several of the units have aircon ($40). More about Shwe Hin Tha Hotel in a thread to follow.

Photo of a map board at our hotel showing the layout of Ngwe Saung beach.

Power throughout Ngwe Saung is limited to nights only - nearly all resorts run their own generators, and they generally come on at 6:00pm, and are turned off at 6:00am.

Around Ngwe Saung, the local lifestyle is still dominantly rural, with rice paddy farming and fishing making up the bulk of local activity.

As such, the resorts and restaurants offer plenty of local seafood - and it is common to see resort staff touring the bungalows with trays of fresh seafood (fish, lobster, squid etc) for you to choose for your evening meal.

One of the resort staff offering freshly caught seafood outside the bungalow - they will cook to order

Activities around Ngwe Saung:

Most visitors we encountered were there simply to enjoy the beach and relax. The beach is good for swimming, although it can be a bit of a walk when the tide is right out. The water is clean compared to neighbouring Chaungtha to the north.

A simple range of water activities can be arranged - boat trips, walking trips to Lover's Island, fishing trips, snorkelling etc

Outside the town there is an elephant camp, and tours can be arranged there - but I had no interest in elephants (been there done that) and even less interest in the swarms of insects they attract.

Sunset on Ngwe Saung beach

We were up for some exploring, so we rented a couple of trail/off-road motorbikes instead.

Basic scooters can be rented pretty much anywhere for around 7,000 kyats ($9) per day. No papers required, and no helmets were available.

My friend managed to find some more rugged bikes, as we wanted to go a bit off the beaten track - the price was around double but well worth the cost.

One of the trail bikes rented for the trip

Heading south from Ngwe Saung takes some effort, and is probably not recommended for anyone who does not like being out of their comfort zone.

To start, there are various rivers which need to be crossed - either by riding across a precarious timber bridge, or by loading your motorbike onto a ferry of some sort to get from one bank to another. The boats used range from a small canoe type vessel, which can hold barely one bike and 1-2 people, up to a larger longtail motor ferry which carries half a dozen bikes and a dozen or more passengers.

Smaller end of cross-river transportation options

...and one of the larger ferry boats we used...crossing a larger river, this trip took around 20 minutes through some stunning mangrove channels

The effort was worthwhile - we passed through various fishing villages, farming areas, and past some stunning scenery. We encountered no vehicles apart from the odd scooter, bullock carts and fishing boats. The local people were happy, friendly, and helpful without any expectations (we had the odd mechanical incident!)

At the mouth of one of the rivers...fishing boats at rest

To finish - a view from the top of a headland looking North....

That will do - post is too long already....

SVB

Not too long at all! Great post. Thanks again!!

Was it pretty quiet SVB? Or were you fighting Germans for a sun bed?

And was that wind turbine operating? Last time I was there they had installed it and were waiting for it to be commissioned, they said that every resort would have 24 hour power when it was running.

That wind turbine was odd. Stuck out like the proverbials, and we asked our local mate about it. He said it hasn't moved an inch in a year or so, and probably never will. Lovely static display now.

As for the Great Sunbed Battles of Ngwe Saung 2012 - no, fairly quiet. Most of the resorts were dead, especially at the posh end of the beach. We dropped in for a look at BOB (Bay of Bengal, the high end resort - their acronym cracks me up) and there wasn't a soul.

Everyone is expecting it to be packed for Thadingyut - as you rightly predicted. My last trip to Chaungtha was for Thadingyut way back in 1999 with a mate and couple of girlfriends, and I remember it being outrageous then.

Funny story - There was chap in the adjoining bungalow at Shwe Hin Tha the day before we left - kept looking at me oddly, asking me how I was etc (German chap, hence the funny story bit, following your queries).

Finally he said "Are you XXX?"

He recognised me from the queue outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok some weeks earlier. He and his girlfriend were there getting there visas, and we got chatting in the queue. Several weeks later, at a random beach side resort....go figure.

And they didn't take my sunbed either. Lovely people.

That wind turbine was odd. Stuck out like the proverbials, and we asked our local mate about it. He said it hasn't moved an inch in a year or so, and probably never will. Lovely static display now.

As for the Great Sunbed Battles of Ngwe Saung 2012 - no, fairly quiet. Most of the resorts were dead, especially at the posh end of the beach. We dropped in for a look at BOB (Bay of Bengal, the high end resort - their acronym cracks me up) and there wasn't a soul.

Everyone is expecting it to be packed for Thadingyut - as you rightly predicted. My last trip to Chaungtha was for Thadingyut way back in 1999 with a mate and couple of girlfriends, and I remember it being outrageous then.

Funny story - There was chap in the adjoining bungalow at Shwe Hin Tha the day before we left - kept looking at me oddly, asking me how I was etc (German chap, hence the funny story bit, following your queries).

Finally he said "Are you XXX?"

He recognised me from the queue outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok some weeks earlier. He and his girlfriend were there getting there visas, and we got chatting in the queue. Several weeks later, at a random beach side resort....go figure.

And they didn't take my sunbed either. Lovely people.

It must be at least 4 years since that wind turbine was installed, interesting to hear that its still not working.

Funnily enough we did just the same as you, we went to BoB for lunch one day, just to have a look. Whilst we were there ran into a load of French expats who live here as well, they were doing just the same, nobody who was eating there that day was actually staying there. It belongs to the ex Minister of Forestry and is run by his son. It's going to be interesting how BoB and a few other places there which have similar histories do in the future. Word on the street is that tour companies are avoiding them, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And you're trying to have us believe you shared a hotel with Germans and there was no need for the Dambusters theme? Pull the other one!

And you say you were here in 1999? I have a feeling we might know each other, or at least know of each other.

Very interesting post, thank again.

You didn't try the snorkeling there ?

Also, i cannot see any pictures in your post, are they still hosted or it's my computer problem ?

Very interesting post, thank again.

You didn't try the snorkeling there ?

Also, i cannot see any pictures in your post, are they still hosted or it's my computer problem ?

Didn't go snorkelling on that trip. Was doing a tour further afield.

Pictures are loading fine for me - try refreshing or hit CTRL-F5

Great posting. Really interesting, thanks, Now feel I know much more about Myanmar only having ever been to Yangon and 2 days in Mandalay which I wouldn't particularly recommend except for historians. Thanks